Parkhurst v. State
Parkhurst v. State
Opinion of the Court
[¶1] Thirty-eight years after his convictions for first degree murder and assault and battery with felonious intent, Appellant Derrick Raymond Parkhurst, pro se, seeks exoneration under the newly enacted Post-Conviction Determination of Factual Innocence Act,
*835ISSUE
[¶2] We frame the issue for review as:
Did the district court err when it dismissed Mr. Parkhurst's petition for post-conviction determination of factual innocence?
FACTS
[¶3] We set forth the facts leading to Mr. Parkhurst's convictions in Parkhurst v. State :
At approximately 11:45 p.m. on October 29, 1978, the home of Dennis and Christina Baird, located in Glenrock, Wyoming, was entered by force. The assailants kicked open the front door and went inside. Wade Dugger, a house guest who was sleeping in the front room on a couch, awoke to the sound of a shotgun blast which hit the Bairds' dog as it ran into the room. Mr. Dugger stood up and he too was shot. The blast knocked him backwards into the adjoining bedroom in which the Baird children were sleeping. Dennis and Christina Baird jumped out of bed to investigate the commotion. As they approached the door into the front room, Dennis pushed his wife back into the bedroom and indicated that she should wait. He then went around the door and was instantly shot. His body, recoiling from the shotgun blast, landed at Christina's feet. Desperate for help, she headed out of the bedroom and then saw Derrick Parkhurst, one of the appellants, running out the front door. When she went to check on her children, she discovered that Mr. Dugger was seriously injured. She asked if he was all right and he responded, "no," and then said, "Derrick." Ms. Baird then ran next door for help.
When the police arrived, a witness told them that he had seen two males fleeing the scene in a blue or green Ford Fairlane and that he had followed the car far enough to see it heading out of town towards Douglas, Wyoming. The police, upon entering the house, determined that Dennis Baird was dead but that Wade Dugger was still alive. While awaiting the arrival of an ambulance, Ms. Baird informed the police that Dennis and Derrick Parkhurst were the assailants. A police officer then asked Mr. Dugger if he knew who shot him. Unable to understand the response, the officer queried if it had been Derrick and Mr. Dugger indicated yes; Dugger survived to testify.
[¶4] After the jury found Mr. Parkhurst guilty of first degree murder and assault and battery with felonious intent, he filed a direct appeal, claiming the officers illegally obtained evidence, and that the arresting officer impermissibly commented at trial on Mr. Parkhurst's right to remain silent.
[¶5] Mr. Parkhurst thereafter filed several petitions for post-conviction relief, a motion for writ of habeas corpus, and a petition for writ of certiorari requesting reinstatement of his direct appeal, among other pleadings. Mr. Parkhurst also sought habeas corpus relief in federal court. See Parkhurst v. Shillinger ,
[¶6] In 2016, Mr. Parkhurst filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence pursuant to W.R.Cr.P. Rule 35(a), alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel, inter alia . The district court denied the motion because Mr. Parkhurst's claims were not raised in a timely petition for post-conviction relief and were otherwise barred by res judicata. We dismissed Mr. Parkhurst's subsequent appeal for lack of jurisdiction, concluding that his Rule 35(a) motion improperly attempted to challenge his underlying convictions. Parkhurst v. State , No. S-17-0305 (Wyo. April 30, 2018) (order dismissing appeal ).
[¶7] Most recently, Mr. Parkhurst filed a petition for exoneration pursuant to the Post-Conviction *836Determination of Factual Innocence Act (the Factual Innocence Act),
[¶8] The district court dismissed the petition because it lacked any documentation of newly discovered evidence that would establish Mr. Parkhurst's innocence. The district court also noted that Mr. Parkhurst's arguments reflected a "fixation" on his claim that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that he failed to show how his allegations of missing transcripts, even if true, supported a claim for relief under the factual innocence statutes.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
[¶9] Statutory interpretation presents a question of law, which we review de novo. Dougherty v. State ,
DISCUSSION
[¶10] The legislature passed the Factual Innocence Act in 2018 to allow a person convicted of a felony offense to petition the court for exoneration if the person can establish that he is factually innocent of the convicted crime(s). See generally
[¶11] Mr. Parkhurst's petition for exoneration asserts only that his constitutional rights to effective assistance of counsel and due process were violated. The petition does not assert or establish any bona fide issue of factual innocence.
[¶12] Mr. Parkhurst acknowledges that his petition seeks redress of his perceived constitutional rights violations. He further recognizes that his claims are time-barred under the post-conviction relief statutes,
[¶13] We read statutes in pari materia only when the statutes relate to the same subject. Crain v. State ,
[¶14] The scope of the Factual Innocence Act is plainly limited to claims of factual innocence based on newly discovered evidence. See
CONCLUSION
[¶15] Mr. Parkhurst failed to comply with statutory requirements of the Factual Innocence Act. His claims fall outside of that Act's express parameters. The district court did not err when it dismissed Mr. Parkhurst's petition for exoneration without prejudice.
[¶16] Affirmed.
Mr. Parkhurst raised ineffective assistance of counsel claims in the 1993 petition for writ of certiorari, the 1994 federal habeas corpus action, the 1997 amended post-conviction relief petition, the 2008 petition for post-conviction relief, and the 2016 Rule 35(a) motion. Parkhurst ,
The State did not lose the trial transcripts; they are contained in the record on appeal.
Specifically,
(b) The petition shall contain an assertion of factual innocence under oath by the petitioner and shall aver, with supporting affidavits or other credible documents, that:
(i) Newly discovered evidence exists that, if credible, establishes a bona fide issue of factual innocence;
(ii) The specific evidence identified by the petitioner establishes innocence and is material to the case and the determination of factual innocence;
(iii) The material evidence identified by the petitioner is not merely cumulative of evidence that was known, is not reliant solely upon recantation of testimony by a witness against the petitioner and is not merely impeachment evidence;
(iv) When viewed with all other evidence in the case, whether admitted during trial or not, the newly discovered evidence demonstrates that the petitioner is factually innocent; and
(v) Newly discovered evidence claimed in the petition is distinguishable from any claims made in prior petitions.
Because the record contains Mr. Parkhurst's admissions he intended to shoot and kill Wade Dugger and Dennis Baird, albeit out of fear and terror, and that he "committed manslaughter," it is difficult to imagine how Mr. Parkhurst could credibly assert "factual innocence" as the legislature defined that phrase. "Factual innocence" means a person:
(A) Did not engage in the conduct for which he was convicted;
(B) Did not engage in conduct constituting a lesser included or inchoate offense of the crime for which he was convicted; and
(C) Did not commit any other crime arising out of or reasonably connected to the facts supporting the indictment or information upon which he was convicted.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Derrick Raymond PARKHURST, (Petitioner) v. The STATE of Wyoming, (Respondent).
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published